Transmission mechanism.



BJP. SEYMOUR.

TRANSMISSION MBGHANISM.

APrLxoAnoN FILED 1120.12, 1907.

Patented May 4, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

B. P. SEYMOUR. vTRANSMISSION MBGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED DIJO. 12, 1907. 920, 1 90. Patented May 4, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES: 3%

. 4 NVENTOR. j 075 I e/yam/n FISQ/moar Patented May 4, 1909.

3 SHEETS--SHEBT 3.-

INVENTOR. Beryam/'n .Sep/)Ow B. F. SEYMOUR.

TRANSMISSION MEHANISM.

APPLIUATION FILED DB0. 12, 1907.

VKVJTNESSES.- /f J w 273 A TTORNE Y.

BENJAMIN I". SEYMOUR,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF DENVER, COLORADO.

TRANSMISSION ME CHAN ISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1909.

Application ied December 12, 1907. Serial No. 406,193.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. SEY- MOUR, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Denver, in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Transmission Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to new and useful improvements in power transmission mechanism and its object is to provide a device by the use of which the speed of a driven shaft can be varied at will within certain predetermined limits, in relation to the approximately constant velocity of a driving element.

My improvedmechanism being simple in construction and efficient in operation, is of eculiar value in connection with autonieiles, motor boats, air ships and other contrivances in which a gradual variation of the movement of the impelling mechanism from a low to a high speed through instrumentality of a simple and easily operated appliance, is of advantage. I attain this object by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings in the various views of which like parts are similarly designated and in which- Figure 1- represents a side elevation-of the device in connection with a horizontally mounted shaft, Fig. 2 an elevation of the said shaft showing the surrounding parts in section, Fig. 3- a longitudinal section through the shaft and the surrounding' members of the appliance. l? ig. 11- an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the shaft and the sleeve which forms part of the adjustable gear comprised in my invention, Fie'. 5- a top view of the parts illustrated in F ig. 11, Fig. 6- a transverse section taken along a line 6--6, Fig. 1, Figs. 7 and 8,- enlarged, fragmentary, longitudinal sections through the shafty and the sleeve showing t-he locking mechanism in two positions, Fig. 9- a transverse section along a line 9-9, Fig. 1, l? ig. 1()Fw a cross section taken along the line 10-10, Fig. 1, and Fig. 11- a fragmentary elevation of the driven shaft illustrating the position of the locking detents in the spiral grooves formed in the peripheral surface of f the shaft.

Referring to the drawings, let the reference character 5 designate the driving shaft and 6 the driven shaft of a mechanism to which my improved transmission device is applied, 7 a gear wheel mounted upon the shaft 5, and S a therewith operatively engaging adjustable member carried upon the shaft 6, by means of which the rotary movement of the first shaft is transmitted to the other. In this connection I wish it understood that although in the following description and claims the shafts 5 and 6 and the therewith connected gears have been designated respectively as the driving and driven elements of the apparatus, this relation may be reversed and the power applied to the shaft 6 and transmitted by means of the gear to the shaft 5 in which case the latter becomes the driven member. It should furthermore be observed that a horizontal circular gear or rack may be substituted for the shaft 5 and the gear 7, to impart motion to the member 8 and the therewith connected shaft, as is illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, in which the reference numeral 9 designates the driving gear.

The adjustable element of the invention comprises a sleeve 10 which loosely surrounds the driven shaft 6 and which is formed at one of its extremities with a semispherical socket 11 and an annular flange 12 upon which a ring 13 is secured by means of bolts 14. The socket 11 is, in practice, occupied by the spherical extremity 15 of a hollow conoidal member 16 which has a central conical opening 17 through which the shaft 6 extends. The ring 13 when secured upon the flange 12 of the sleeve, preventsindepemlent longitudinal movement of the cone 16 and the latter is free to rotate about its own imaginary axis and to gyrate about the shaft as a center.

The conoidal member is formed upon its peripheral surface with a lurality of consecutively arranged, equidistant series of teeth, 18, of even pitch, which are adapted to mesh with the correspondingly arranged teeth on the driving member 7. A smooth l portion 1Sa of the surface of the conc extending beyond the lastseries of teeth at its largest or low-speed extremity, is provided for the purpose of retaining the driving element of the mechanism in engagement with 1 the driven member without imparting motion thereto when, during the movement of the driving shaft, it is desired to stop that of the driven shaft. The conoidal i'neinberis furtherinore provided With. a series of longitudinally ranging grooves which being cut into its inner surface substantially at the juncture of its conical portion with its spherical extremity forni a succession of projections or teeth 19 which, when the parts are assembled upon the shaft 6, project into correspondingly shaped grooves or flutes 20, cut into the peripheral surface of the latter andi by which n ans the rotary inovenient of the cone is transmitted to the shaft.

Seated in sockets il, forined dianietrically opposite in the circumferential surface of the sleeve l0, are headed dogs or detent the Steins 22a of which project norin ally through apertures 2l1 in the bottoni of the socliets, into spiral grooves 23 which being cut in the circumferential surface of the shaft 6, wind in opposite directions Within predetermined liinits. Spiral springs 24, which surround the stenis of the detents Within the soclret, engage the bottoni surface of the latter and the opposed lower surface of the heads 22C for the purpose of forcing the lower or engaging extreinity of the detents. out of the grooves they normally occupy, as is illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawings. The lower extremity of each detent is shaped in conforniity with the groove it is designed to occupy, as is shown in Fig. l'i, so that when during inoveinent of the sleeve l0, the detent traveling in the groove reaches a point of intersection of the said groove with that Winding in opposite direction, it will not deviate frein its course. i-f hen both the de tents project into the respective grooves and the sleeve l0 is in consequence lockerL upon the shaft they are held against outward. nioveinent by uieans of a collar 2, ivl'xieli encircling the sleeve, engages the upper surface of the heads 22.

Headed pins 27 secured in correspending apertures in the sleeve, project *l tiirough longitudinal slots 26 in laterally exten Alng Wings 26 on the collar, causing the latter to rotate With the sleeve, ivliilc they per nit a liinited inoveinent of the collar thereon in lateral direction. rllhe collar is further- Aore provided at its points of engagement with the detents, With Wings 28, which extend in opposite directions along the surface of sleeve and whose function is to retain the respective detent in its depressed position when, by adjust nent of the collar, the opposite dog is disengaged and in consequence released fronr contact with the groove in th shaft by action of the spring 24, as shown in- Fig. S of the drawings. The inoveinent of the collar in either direction is lirnited by the length of the guide slots 26a so that, when the said collar is in its eXti-eiiie positions, but one of the detente is released,

its position in While the other is retained in holding the respective spiral Vive .2-. thi, inenibor lil against rela' inovenient of the shy ft ployed to reve the said nally in either direction, as t of the depressed detent wird groove vJili @euse it to travel in tl r in which the aid groove is around cariiy the sleeve with it.

To control tl'ie niev niente of the sleeve and the therewith connected conoidal frein the place occupied by the operator of the device t l i anisnr is appl` l, provi i which pies an annular depression 3 in '1 fiifr-ireiitial s l ce of the collar 25 s a connection betr-.reen the ties of tryo ulrich enteral in relation to the i opposite einher iciigitudil engage vent ic lirection and to y sides thereof and .vhich )Jovi 'with longitudinally extending slots edges of which are formed with a series of successive notches Si?Ll The reference character designe-tes the operating lever which isf n ed at F34 upon ay be held of" the usual of the lever a stationary support in any predeternuned mental st nrcan-s ,inity 3 ie lovfer enti Y ed to straddle Y- naft e anni. provided 'with in .ifardlr ran, `l

the slots ,.1 ,.L iv uen eroico,` into tive arins Si o i .l` 35a in tue stand in xii ws, are t .-r the l() A usted into its medicus, fr 'the purp i se of l i 1. i -L 'VU-H" v tue sleeve against ation mili th.'v

as a center, coinbiiied with c"- ment around its own imaginary axis.

the spiral movement of the conoidal gear is transmitted to the driven shaft 6 by the engagement ofthe teeth 19 on the one with the grooves 20 in the other, the said gear being held against longitudinal displacement on the shaft by the two detents 22 which when the lever 33 and the collar 25 are in their central or normal positions, project into the right and left grooves in the shaft and thus lock the member' with which they are connected against movement in either direction. To vary the speed with 'which the shaft 6 rotates in its bearings 50, the operator by disengaging the operating lever from the segmental standard, lowers the gudgeons at its 'bifureated extremity into the subjacent notches in the arms 31 on the ring 29, after which he moves the said lever about its fulcrum, into one of the positions, shown in broken lines in Fig. l of the drawings, thus causing the collar 25 to move in opposite direction upon the sleeve l0 and to consequently disengage one of the detents 22 which by action of the spiral spring 24 is forced outwardly free from contact with the spiral groove into which it projected while the parts were in their normal positions. The sleeve 10 which normally rotates with the shaft is simultaneously locked against rotation by engagement of one of the fingers on the stationary ring 29 with the respective lug on the sleeve and the latter' is impelled to move along the shaft in longitudinal direction by the latters rotary movement which causes the dog 22 engaged by the correspondino' wing on the collar, to travel in the spiral groove into which it projects. When the shaft 6 has attained the desired speed, the collar 25 is returned to its normal position by manipulation of the lever 33, and by engagement with the beveled surface of the outwardly extending head of the free detent, depresses the latter into the respective groove in the shaft with the result that the sleeve and the therewith connected cone are again locked against longitudinal displacement. lt will thus be observed that by moving` the conoidal gear along the shaft, the driving `gear may be brought in mesh consecutively with the various series of teeth on its peripheral surface and as the diameter of each series differs from that of the preceding one, the speed of the driven element will be varied in consequence. lf it is desired to stop the movement of the shaft 6, the smooth portion at the large or low speed extremity of the conoidal gear, is brought in engagement with the driving gear which causes the latter to rotate idly.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is l. The combination with a driving element, of a driven shaft, a sleeve encircling the latter, a conoidal member in co-active engagement with the shaft connected with the said sleeve and free to gyrate about an axis common with that of the shaft by engagement with the said element, means to move the sleeve longitudinally in relation to the shaft and to secure it thereto at any desired point within predetermined limits.

The combination with a driving element of a driven shaft having two grooves winding spirally in opposite directions within predetermined limits, a sleeve encircling the shaft, detents connected with the said sleeve, normally projecting into the said grooves, means to withdraw either one of the said detents from its respective groove and a hollow conoidal member in co-aetive engagement with the shaft, connected with the sleeve and free to gyrate about an axis common with 1 that of the shaft by engagement with the said element.

3. The combination with a driving element of a shaft, having grooves winding spirally in opposite directions within common limits, a sleeve encircling the shaft, a conoidal member connected with the said sleeve in coactive engagement with the shaft and free to gyrate about the latters axis by engagement with the .said element, detents resiliently connected with the sleeve and normally projecting within the grooves, a collar adjustably mounted upon the sleeve and adapted to engage one or both of the detents and an operating mechanism arranged to move the said collar longitudinally in relation to the sleeve.

4. The combination with a driving element of a driven shaft having two grooves winding spirally in opposite directions within predetermined limits, a sleeve encircling the shaft, detents connected with the said sleeve, normally projecting into the said grooves,

means to withdraw either one of the said detents from its respective groove and to simultaneously hold the sleeve against rotation and a hollow, conoidal member in co-active engagement with the shaft, connected with the sleeve and free to gyrate about an axis common with that of the shaft by engagement with the said element.

5. The combination with a driving element of a shaft having grooves winding spirally in opposite directions within common limits, a sleeve encircling the shaft, a conoidal member connected with the said sleeve in coactive engagement with the shaft and free to gyrate about the latters axis by engagement with the said element, detents resiliently connected with the sleeve and normally projecting within the grooves, a collar adjustably mounted upon the sleeve and adapted to engage one or both of the detents, a non-rotative ring encircling the collar and an operating mechanism arranged to impart a lateral movement thereto.

6. The combination with a driving elelll) ment of a shaft having grooves Windingspirally 1n opposite directions Within common limits, a sleeve encircling the shaft, a oonold al member connected with the said sleeve in eoactive engagement With the shaft and free to gyrate about the latter s axis by engagement with the said element7 detente resiliently oonneoted with the sleeve and normally projecting within the grooves, a collar adjustabl",T mounted upon the sleeve and adapted to engage one or both ofthe detents, a non-rota- 

